Ken Watanabe Charity Work, Events and Causes

Japanese actor Ken Watanabe is best known in Western culture for films ‘The Last Samurai’, ‘Batman Begins’ and ‘Inception’. He has, however, been an established Japanese celebrity for years, known for his roles as Samurais since his first film in 1984, ’MacArthur’s Children’.

Ken’s character has shone through recently, when he set up the Unite for Japan charity. This was created in response to the devastating earthquake in March. Ken ‘decided to do two things, which was to help raise funds for the earthquake relief effort, and give the victims moral support by gathering messages from around the world.’ Since setting up the charity, he has engaged numerous celebrities in fundraising activities such as appeal videos that have been spread worldwide.

He is also passionate about combating climate change, talking in 2007 about the importance of reducing carbon footprints through ‘green travel’.